In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
Parallel translations
- WEB In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow.
- BSB Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.
- NKJV In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
- NASB They have treated father and mother with contempt among you. They have oppressed the stranger in your midst; they have oppressed the orphan and the widow among you.
- NLT Fathers and mothers are treated with contempt. Foreigners are forced to pay for protection. Orphans and widows are wronged and oppressed among you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In Jerusalem, parents are treated with contempt, foreigners oppressed, and orphans and widows wronged. The most basic duties of love and justice are violated.
Overview
These sins break commands central to the Law: honoring parents and protecting the vulnerable (Ex. 20:12; 22:21-22). God especially defends the foreigner, fatherless, and widow, so their mistreatment is a grave offense. The verse exposes a society that has abandoned both reverence and compassion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Deut 27:16Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- Exod 22:21–22Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
- Lev 20:9For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
- Zech 7:10And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
- Jer 7:6If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
- Mal 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Mark 7:10For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
- Matt 15:4–6For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
- Exod 21:17And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
- Deut 27:19Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.
- Ezek 18:12Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
- Prov 20:20Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.
- Prov 22:22–23Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
- Prov 30:11There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
- Deut 5:16Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
- Exod 20:12Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
- Prov 30:17The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
- Ezek 22:29The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
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